1. U.S. Pat. No. 4,514,870xe2x80x94April 1985xe2x80x94Tylerxe2x80x94Fire protection blanket
2. U.S. Pat. No. 5,075,997xe2x80x94December 1999xe2x80x94Danielsxe2x80x94Multi-purpose protection garment
3. U.S. Pat. No. 5,956,763xe2x80x94September 1999xe2x80x94Blackshearxe2x80x94Disposable bib w/lap protector
4. U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,275xe2x80x94January 1993xe2x80x94Spulgisxe2x80x94Apron
5. U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,968xe2x80x94July 1996xe2x80x94Crocketxe2x80x94Commuter""s apron
This invention relates generally to fire retardant cloths and more particularly, to a fire retardant cloth positioned upon a seated user""s lap to catch and retain debris dropping thereon.
Individuals who smoke or eat while driving or sitting within vehicles often have debris such as food of lighted tobacco products, drop onto their clothing or vehicle seat. Such debris usually fall upon the seated person""s lap, soiling their garments, burning tobacco from cigarettes, cigars, or pipes in addition to ruining clothing or a vehicle seat cover, may injure the user.
Drivers who smoke or eat while driving tend to jeopardize safe vehicle operation since part of their concentration that would otherwise be completely devoted to assure safe driving is focussed upon the food or tobacco being consumed. If burning tobacco or hot food or liquid fall upon the driver""s lap, the driver must immediately direct his or her attention to the problem and temporarily disregard surrounding traffic and driving conditions, often with tragic consequences.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a fire retardant lap protection cloth for covering the lap and lower torso of a seated driver or passenger to prevent burning or soiling of garments or of the vehicle seat by falling food, liquid or lighted tobacco products and to maintain easy use of vehicle seat belts.
Therefore, inventors created several types of protection devices to try and solve this problem. U.S. Pat. No. 4,514,870 to Tyler (1985) discloses a blanket which, covers the lap and entire leg area of the driver or passenger, using said blanket, making it confining and ackward to use, fisher notice a first and second fastening strips (40), (42) respectively attached to an upper corner of the fabric or foam layer and an arm rest (44) anchor the blanket to the arm rest to prevent unintentional removal of the blanket from the vehicle, also said foam backing layer (30) makes the blanket less able to fold neatly and compactly for storage, also noted, where most debris fall first when one is driving is the torso or stomach area, debris usually fall in this area first and them roll or spill downward to the lap area, said blanket does not tend to offer coverage of this area.
Although other inventors attempted to cover this area looking for a better protection device, they too have come up short with a truly marketable device that is easy to use, comfortable and non-confining, decorative, pleasing to the eye, easy to fold to a small dimension, package, store compactly and can be used almost anywhere.
Several types of inventions have been proposed, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,956,763 disposable bib with tap protector, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,075,897 multi-purpose protective garment. While these devices may offer a reasonable amount of protection, they are still using fastening or strapping, or securing devices to secure the device to the driver or passenger, making them extremely uncomfortable and making it harder to use their seat belts, they do not provide easy use of product and can not be folder to a small enough dimensioned size to be used and carried almost anywhere.
In accordance with the present invention a lap protection cloth for covering the lap and lower torso of a seated driver of passenger while using his of her seat belt, to prevent burning or soiling of garments or vehicle seats by falling food, liquid of lighted tobacco products.
Accordingly, besides the objects and advantages of the lap protection cloth described in my above patent application, several objects and advantages of the present invention are:
(a) to provide a protective cloth with no snaps, wires, or fastening devices for anchoring or confining the user of the cloth
(b) to provide a protective cloth that works very well with the use of vehicle seat belts which is mandatory in today""s society
(c) to provide a protective cloth that is easily removed in cases of emergency exiting of vehicle
(d) to provide a protective cloth that is light weight for comfort, decorative and appealing to the eye
(e) to provide a protective cloth that can be folded to a small enough dimension for easy and compact storage within the vehicle or cared with the person anywhere
(f) to provide a protective cloth that is easily marketable, inexpensively made, and provides a safe amount of protection for garments and vehicle seats
(g) to provide a protective cloth that is versatile enough to be used almost anywhere, (ie) in the home, at picnics, outdoor concerts, restaurants, and the work place
Still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in this art from the following detailed description, wherein I have shown and described only the preferred embodiments of the invention simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated by me of carrying out my invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of modifications in various respects, all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.